Bernard Schoenburg: Renfrow closes down political action committee

Thursday

Jan 20, 2011 at 12:01 AMJan 20, 2011 at 8:01 PM

A political action committee run by folks close to City Water, Light and Power general manager TODD RENFROW was closed out Dec. 29 — a couple of weeks after the death of Renfrow’s old boss, Springfield Mayor TIM DAVLIN.

A political action committee run by folks close to City Water, Light and Power general manager TODD RENFROW was closed out Dec. 29 — a couple of weeks after the death of Renfrow’s old boss, Springfield Mayor TIM DAVLIN.

Springfield Leadership PAC, which was chaired by Renfrow’s son-in-law, ED VEHOVIC, and had as its treasurer BILL O’ROURKE, now-retired executive assistant to Renfrow, raised and spent more than $160,000 in its nearly six years of existence.

“Tim’s gone,” Renfrow said when asked about closure of the committee this week.

I have written about Springfield Leadership PAC in the past, including how the committee spent more than $29,000 on restaurants between its inception and the end of 2008. Renfrow in the past indicated the committee picked up some business expenses because “I don’t charge anything to the city,” and the committee’s spending also covers political things.

The PAC’s final report, for the period from July 1 through Dec. 29, shows the fund had $6,554 on hand at the beginning, $9,000 was raised, and all $15,554 then in the fund was spent to zero.
As has often been the case, donations came from political funds of labor organizations. That included $3,000 from Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 137 and $2,000 each from the Illinois Laborers’ Legislative Committee and the Mid-Central Illinois District Council of Carpenters.

Donations from the fund included $400 to the campaign fund of MIKE McGRATH, an administrative assistant to Renfrow at the city who lost a race for the Sangamon County Board against DON STEPHENS, R-District 5; and $9,452 to Friends of JIM MOODY, the personal PAC of the chairman of Sangamon County Democrats.

Moody said he didn’t know why Renfrow dissolved the committee, but the money can be helpful. He said he uses his fund to help candidates or the party.

Renfrow has said the Springfield Leadership fund also has been used to help charities. Within its final half year, the fund — which listed as its goal with the State Board of Elections: “To support candidates” — gave $500 each to The Salvation Army and United Cerebral Palsy, and $250 to Springfield Green. Another $400 went for mileage for Renfrow, while food expenditures included $1,400 to the Sangamo Club, $396 to the Hilton Springfield, $162 to The Corner Pub & Grill and $263 to Willy P’s Tap & Grill.

Campaign finance gaps
Major gaps in campaign reporting in such races as the Springfield and Chicago mayoral contests have become apparent as changes in campaign finance laws go into use this spring.

Under the former system, candidates had to file reports covering all donations and expenditures for each six-month period. Each report was due about 20 days into the next period. The last of such reports is due this week, covering the July 1-Dec. 31 period — which is before most candidates for mayor did any serious fundraising.

That system is now being replaced with quarterly reports, so all activity of each three-month period will be reported within the first half of the next month. The first such quarterly report, covering January through March of this year, can be filed April 1-15.

However, the general election for mayor and aldermanic races is April 5, meaning the April 15 deadline for those reports won’t be until 10 days after the election. While candidates could file as early as April 1, it is more usual for them — like all of us — to wait until the deadline is closer.

The old law ensured a more timely, comprehensive look at fundraising for such offices, with what was called a 30-day report — covering only donations received and transfers to other political committees in a period ending a month before the election. While those reports didn’t include lists of general expenses, at least they provided a late look at where money was coming from. Those reports were due about 15 days before the election.

In addition, under the old rules, any donation of more than $500 — in aggregate — from any source had to be reported within two business days if it was in the final 30 days of the campaign.
The new law has a similar reporting requirement, and such donations still will be filed in what are called A-1 forms, but with changes that could be seen as loopholes.

Now, any donation of $1,000 or more must be reported within five business days at any time, and during the final 30 days of a campaign — starting Jan. 24 for the Feb. 22 mayoral primary — that reporting must be done within two business days. However, as the rules got written, the reporting requirement applies only to individual checks of $1,000 or more. So if the same donor provides a series of checks for less than that amount, no reporting is required until the next quarterly report is due, which in this case is after the election.

CINDI CANARY, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said different impressions were left in House and Senate debates on the new law as to whether those large-donation reporting requirements would be aggregated totals or not. But as rules have emerged, they are not.

“What we’re going to have to see as we go through this election cycle is what information is falling through the cracks,” Canary said. “Once we see how things are working under the new law, then we can have an informed sense of what really needs to be tinkered with.”

If things aren’t changed, the same type of reporting gaps could affect the March 20, 2012, general state primary.

Also new in the law is a quick reporting method for large independent expenditures, which, said SHARON STEWARD, director of the campaign disclosure division of the state elections board, are expenditures made by political committees for a candidate, but not in coordination with the campaign. A brochure paid for by a political committee would be one example. If such an expenditure of $1,000 or more is made within 30 days of an election, it must be filed electronically with the board within five business days. Those are called B-1 expenditures.

The state board’s website, where such reporting can be found, is at www.elections.il.gov.

MIKE COFFEY JR. got $1,000 each from RICHARD LEVI of Levi, Ray & Shoup; developer JOSEPH ALBERS; car dealer Isringhausen Imports; Nicoud Insurance; and Steven HASSEBROCK, head of American Metal Supply. Coffey said the donors are friends, and the businesses are owned by friends, including TIM NICOUD of the insurance firm. Tim Nicoud’s uncle, G. JOSEPH NICOUD, chairs Coffey’s committee. Coffey has also said his fundraising has topped $100,000.

Former Mayor Mike Houston loaned $25,000 to his own campaign. The $31,900 he raised as of the end of the year included $5,000 from Duffy & Associates in Chatham. Houston said LEE DUFFY, owner of some Discount Tobacco stores, is his Saturday morning golf partner. An in-kind donation to Houston is office space rental valued at $5,610 from real estate developer SAM NICHOLS.

Former Williamsville Mayor WILLIAM McCARTY had raised $5,385 by the end of December, including a $2,000 loan to himself. Fundraising expenses in December of $600 for food and $750 for the location came from ANTHONY TURASKY of Turasky Catering and Capital City Bar & Grill, respectively.

Ward 3 Ald. FRANK KUNZ, who started raising money for his mayoral run almost a year ago, had more than $11,000 on hand by mid-2010, raised and spent more than $5,000, and had $11,556 on hand as of Dec. 31. A friend, BILL CIOTTI, gave him $500. And the FRANK LESKO who gave Kunz $200 is Kunz’s uncle, not the alderman of the same name. This Lesko’s sister — mother-of-the-candidate MARGARET KUNZ — also gave $200 to the cause.

Other candidates for mayor are SHEILA STOCKS-SMITH, MARIO INGOGLIA and MIKE FARMER.

Condolences
Springfield lost a political institution with the death Friday, following a brief illness, of EVELYN KNOX. She was 82.

“Evy Knox was one of our very, very best Democratic precinct committeemen,” said U.S. Sen. DICK DURBIN, D-Ill. “I never knew a woman who worked so hard at so many things. I mean, she knew her neighborhood like the back of her hand, and if you were not on her list, you were not going to do well in her precinct, because her neighbors loved her and respected her and followed her guidance.”

Durbin recalled that in 1978, when he was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor and he and gubernatorial candidate MICHAEL BAKALIS lost to then-Gov. JIM THOMPSON and Lt. Gov. DAVE O’NEAL, Knox took him to Cobden, in the area where she was born in Union County.
“She took me to a tavern/restaurant where the whole town gathered to meet me, because she asked them to,” Durbin said. “And they served goat meat chili.”

Knox had worked for the Springfield Police Department’s detective bureau and for the secretary of state’s office.

“Evy was just the best,” Durbin said. “When she was on your side, you couldn’t have a stronger helper.”

Bernard Schoenburg is political columnist for The State Journal-Register. He can be reached at 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.